In A League Without Ovechkin, Malkin and Datsyuk...
Written by CK   
Wednesday, 17 June 2009 19:49

There's this awful show on television called "Life After People," which uses "science" to create a look into what the world would be like without...(wait for it!)...human beings. The sheer idiocy of the show got me thinking about the NHL (don't ask how) and what would the 2008-2009 NHL season be without its biggest stars.

But with the NHL Awards Show just a few hours away, it spurred a science experiment of my own, and I soon found myself loading up NHL 09 to answer the question, "What would the Capitals, Penguins and Red Wings be without their Hart Trophy nominees?" You could even argue that this is a crude way to put the "if X player wasn't on X team, how good would they be?" meme to the test.

I know what you're thinking, "Reed, you silly bastard, how could a video game accurately predict anything, didn't you see when NHL 09 said Boston would win the Cup?" But perhaps it's not just simulating a season in a video game that can tell us who is the true MVP of the league, but rather simulating a season without the Hart nominees that will tell us who the MVP is.

I removed Pavel Datsyuk, Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin from their respective teams. Turned off trades, kept the salary cap on, and then simulated one whole season without the Russian dynamos.

Of course there are some variables, such as the CPU signing players to replace them with the newfound cap space, player ratings not accurately depicting a players' skill (Semin) and of course, Jose Theodore is much better in NHL 09 than he is in real life, but still it's a fun experiment that at best will raise a few eyebrows.

The NHL Playoff picture

The West:

DSCN2698

The East:

DSCN2697

The Result:

Even without Ovechkin, the Capitals make the playoffs. Alex Semin leads the team in goals (40), points (81) and ties Mike Green for assists (41).

Henrik Zetterburg picks up Datsyuk's slack and scores 81 points and leads the Wings in goals (37), but Nicklas Lidstrom leads the Wings in assists (48).

Finally we get to the Malkin-less Pens. Sidney Crosby suffers an injury during the season and only plays 69 games. Jordan Staal leads the Pens in goals (31) and points (71), but Sergei Gonchar leads in assists (51). Sidney Crosby has his worst season ever due to injury with only 27 goals, 33 assists and 60 points.

Washington finishes the season in fourth place with 102 points.
Detroit finishes in 22nd place with 84 points.
Pittsburgh finishes 26th with 80 points.

The President's trophy winner and eventual Stanley Cup winner is the Columbus Blue Jackets with 114 points. The Blue Jackets crush the Bruins in five games in the Finals.

The Awards
Art Ross - Ilya Kovalchuk
Hart Memorial - Ilya Kovalchuk
James Norris - Derek Morris
Lady Byng - Daniel Alfredsson
Calder - Steve Mason
Conn Smythe - Nikita Filatov
Vezina - Henrik Lundqvist
William M. Jennings - Manny Legace
Masterton Memorial - Milan Hedjuk
Franke J. Selke - Todd Bertuzzi
Lester B. Pearson - Ilya Kovalchuk
Maurice Richard - Ilya Kovalchuk

Lesson learned:
Malkin should be the MVP by this simulation alone and video games should never be relied upon for anything.


Digg! Reddit! Facebook! Technorati! StumbleUpon! BallHype: hype it up!
Trackback(0)
Comments (8)Add Comment
...
written by CapsFan1975, June 18, 2009
Interesting post. So the absence of Malkin really resulted in Crosby being out with injury for a long time.

Well, Boston does seem to look like the best balanced team on paper. I could have stood them winning the Stanley Cup more than I could stand the Pens. (I would not have been happy with the Caps losing in the Conference Finals to them but I don't have that same venom for them.)

As for the Pens, my hatred for them increased during this playoff series and I would have said this even had they lost to the Caps. The true test of hatred for a team is when you hate them even when they lose a series.
...
written by CapsFan1975, June 18, 2009
Oops, made a mistake. Your simulation had the Blue Jackets winning the Stanley Cup, not Boston. So, if your game was correct, Datsyuk prevented the Blue Jackets from a Stanley Cup victory.
...
written by Reed CK, June 18, 2009
I'm more amazed that the Bolts made the playoffs!
...
written by Whitermage, June 18, 2009
More impressive is that the Blue Jackets won the cup with Pascal Leclaire in goal, unless there was a roster update before the season was started.
ovie!!!
written by redrockin, June 19, 2009
ovie is the coolest dude ever---not to mention the best hockey player in the world right now...check him out in this interview..he looks like he would strap the skates on right now


http://www.comcastsportsnet.tv/pages/inner_player?vidID=vidcast_9934&feedID=257&startclip=1
...
written by LL, June 19, 2009
Funny how Pens fans won't shut up about the Hart and Pearson, but claim to not obsess about the opposition. Seems to me Pens fans are more infatuated with Men than the Cup.
living in pittsburgh is like living in HELL
written by JR, June 22, 2009
i had to move to pittsburgh @ years ago and since they beat the caps and then won the cup, it has been even worse than i imagined. all as i have to say is that we have to win it next year so my hell will freeze over!
Go Caps
...
written by hooks orpik, June 23, 2009
Interesting idea, CK.

NHL09 never seems to have Crosby (or Ovechkin) for that matter at the top of the points race even if both are healthy...But, IMO, their stats tend to have guys like Semin and Staal over-produce.

Interesting case study, it's obvious that I think Detroit would do better than Wash or Pitt without their MVP candidate if reality came to it. Hopefully for all parties it'll never happen.

Write comment

security code
Write the displayed characters


busy
< Prev   Next >
 

Follow Capitals Kremlin

About Bloguin

Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics.

Advertisers

The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.

Bloggers Wanted

The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site.. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.

The Bloguin Login

The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account!